Summary 28 November - 2 December

Congratulations Connex, that is the worst week since I started this blog. When I said last week that reliability was heading backwards, I had no idea how far back it was going.

Only one train was within two minutes of its scheduled time. To be fair, I was out of town Thursday, so it's possible that count could've been higher. But given that Thursday had at least four cancellations, that seems a bit unlikely.

Anyway, the stats took a pounding after that performance - greens have dropped to 60%, oranges up to 24% and reds up to 16%. Seriously, Connex must be running out of excuses as to why their performance is so pathetic. Who seriously believes they can get themselves sorted in time for the Commonwealth Games?

Mon 28/11	Tue 29/11	Wed 30/11	Thu 01/12	Fri 02/12
07:14	07:14	07:14	N/A	07:14
18:35	18:35	18:35	N/A	17:49
Mon 21/11	Tue 22/11	Wed 23/11	Thu 24/11	Fri 25/11
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	10:47
17:49	17:27	18:01	17:38	18:01
Mon 07/11	Tue 08/11	Wed 09/11	Thu 10/11	Fri 11/11
08:49	N/A	N/A	N/A	08:49
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	18:12
Mon 31/10	Tue 01/11	Wed 02/11	Thu 03/11	Fri 04/11
07:14	N/A	07:14	07:14	07:14
17:38	N/A	17:38	17:27	17:49
Mon 24/10	Tue 25/10	Wed 26/10	Thu 27/10	Fri 28/10
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14
17:38	17:38	17:38	17:38	17:07
Mon 17/10	Tue 18/10	Wed 19/10	Thu 20/10	Fri 21/10
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14
17:49	18:24	17:38	17:17	18:12
Mon 10/10	Tue 11/10	Wed 12/10	Thu 13/10	Fri 14/10
07:14	07:14	07:14	N/A	07:14
18:12	18:24	17:38	N/A	17:38
Mon 03/10	Tue 04/10	Wed 05/10	Thu 06/10	Fri 07/10
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	09:49
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	17:38
Mon 26/09	Tue 27/09	Wed 28/09	Thu 29/09	Fri 30/09
N/A	07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14
N/A	17:38	18:01	18:01	18:24
Mon 19/09	Tue 20/09	Wed 21/09	Thu 22/09	Fri 23/09
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	06:59
16:57	N/A	17:38	18:01	N/A
Mon 12/09	Tue 13/09	Wed 14/09	Thu 15/09	Fri 16/09
07:14	07:14	07:14	N/A	07:14
17:27	17:38	17:38	N/A	18:50
Mon 29/08	Tue 30/08	Wed 31/08	Thu 01/09	Fri 02/09
07:14	07:14	07:14	N/A	07:14
17:27	17:38	18:12	N/A	N/A
Mon 22/08	Tue 23/08	Wed 24/08	Thu 25/08	Fri 26/08
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14
17:38	17:38	17:38	18:01	17:27
Mon 15/08	Tue 16/08	Wed 17/08	Thu 18/08	Fri 19/08
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14
17:38	17:38	17:49	17:38	17:38
Mon 08/08	Tue 09/08	Wed 10/08	Thu 11/08	Fri 12/08
07:14	07:14	07:14	10:17	07:14
18:01	17:38	17:38	17:49	17:38
Mon 01/08	Tue 02/08	Wed 03/08	Thu 04/08	Fri 05/08
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	09:24
17:38	17:38	17:49	17:38	N/A
Mon 25/07	Tue 26/07	Wed 27/07	Thu 28/07	Fri 29/07
N/A	N/A	07:14	07:14	07:14
N/A	N/A	17:27	11:42	18:24
Mon 18/07	Tue 19/07	Wed 20/07	Thu 21/07	Fri 22/07
06:59	07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14
17:38	18:12	17:38	17:38	16:27
Mon 11/07	Tue 12/07	Wed 15/07	Thu 14/07	Fri 15/07
07:14	06:59	07:14	07:14	07:14
18:01	17:38	17:38	18:50	18:01
Mon 06/06	Tue 07/06	Wed 08/06	Thu 09/06	Fri 10/06
07:14	07:14	N/A	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mon 30/05	Tue 31/05	Wed 01/06	Thu 02/06	Fri 03/06
08:39	07:14	07:14	06:59	05:40
17:49	17:49	18:12	18:24	18:12
Mon 23/05	Tue 24/05	Wed 25/05	Thu 26/05	Fri 27/05
07:14	07:14	N/A	07:14	07:14
17:38	18:24	N/A	17:49	17:38
Mon 16/05	Tue 17/05	Wed 18/05	Thu 19/05	Fri 20/05
07:14	12:47	06:59	N/A	07:14
17:38	17:38	17:38	N/A	17:38
Mon 09/05	Tue 10/05	Wed 11/05	Thu 12/05	Fri 13/05
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14
18:01	17:38	18:01	18:12	18:35
Mon 02/05	Tue 03/05	Wed 04/05	Thu 05/05	Fri 06/05
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14
16:37	17:38	17:38	17:38	18:50
Mon 25/04	Tue 26/04	Wed 27/04	Thu 28/04	Fri 29/04
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	09:11
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	17:38
Mon 18/04	Tue 19/04	Wed 20/04	Thu 21/04	Fri 22/04
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14
17:49	17:38	17:38	17:38	17:38
Mon 11/04	Tue 12/04	Wed 13/04	Thu 14/04	Fri 15/04
07:14	07:14	07:14	N/A	07:14
17:38	17:27	17:27	N/A	19:35
Mon 04/04	Tue 05/04	Wed 06/04	Thu 07/04	Fri 08/04
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14
17:38	17:38	17:38	17:27	17:38

Fri 2 December - Let's play Connex cancellations...

For the third time this week, my favourite train, the 07:14 is cancelled. On reflection, it seems odd that I should have a "favourite" train, and maybe that is overstating it a bit, but generally it is fairly reliable and it's not crowded and full of schoolkids. Maybe "preferred" is more apt.

Anyway the SMS alert works as I have time to get to Ripponlea for the earlier train.

My 4yo son asks about which train was cancelled, which one I'll catch instead and so on. Then he wants to know how I know it's cancelled, who the driver tells that the train is broken etc. I think this weekend we'll be playing "Connex cancellations" with his Thomas train set!

Home on the 17:49. No big surprise that it runs late and barely beats the six minute deadline to get a red. Not your best week Connex!

Thu 1 December - Sydney...

No Connex trains today as I'm in Sydney.

However, I take a Sydney train to get from Circular Quay to the airport - don't have to wait too long and it's quite quick. Certainly better than a cab on this occasion.

It looks like SMS alerts are back with a vengeance - four Sandy line cancellations today. Three are in the evening so this is probably the shape of things to come, as the trains seem to have an aversion to working when the temperature exceeds 30°C!

Wed 30 November - Back on track...

I think the kids would've been expecting me back home again this morning, but Connex have foiled that by actually running the 07:14, and it's pretty much on time too. I've decided that this is a pretty good coping strategy... Much as I like the early train - both because it's fairly empty and because I can get stuff done in the office before most people arrive - it's much better to head back home and catch a later one than it is to stand around at the station being Angry of Mayfair. Now all I need is a similar strategy for getting home...!

Once again I'm late finishing and on the 18:35. It beats the run of the last two evenings by a matter of seconds.

Tue 29 November - Two in a row...

For the second consecutive day the 07:14 is cancelled. And again we get no SMS alert. So I'm back home for breakfast with the kids again. Thanks Connex.

Actually the SMS alert came through on Orange just after I got back home - very useful. It came through on Vodafone just before 08:00.

As it happens I'm too early for the kids' breakfast today, but at least we have some dinosaur book reading before I go back for the 07:49.

Déjà vu on the homeward journey - again I'm back a bit later than normal and again I end up on the 18:35 and again it arrives at Ripponlea just over three minutes late. I'm really hoping I'm not Bill Murray because I don't think I can handle a third day like the last two!

Mon 28 November - Unplanned family time...

The 07:14 is cancelled and again there's no SMS alert. What's going on? Decide to go back home and spend half an hour with the family while the kids have breakfast - just seems better use of my time than standing on the platform for 20 minutes gnashing my teeth!

Come back later for the 07:59 - full of schoolkids from De la Salle and St Michael's all sitting while adults are standing. Glad I don't do this often.

Home on the 18:35, gets in about three minutes late.